Surface Blog

Welcome to Surface, a blog by Carlisle Wide Plank Floors. Join us in discussion about hardwood flooring wood grains & styles, home decor, green building products, trends and more.

Premium Heart Pine wide plank floors in living room leads to possible Country Pine next

Posted by Christine Halvorson

Gregg and Marsha Martin in North Carolina installed a Carlisle floor in their living room back in 2006 and now they’re back considering another floor for their house. They were kind enough to send us this photo of the Premium Grade Heart Pine they had put in their living room then. It was finished with Autumn Leaf and Tung Oil. Now they are back for more, considering the installation of a pre-finished floor.

Posted on September 17, 2009 at 09:22 PM in Customer Stories • Hardwood Flooring • (0) Comments
Knots and character for Iowa cabin

Posted by Christine Halvorson

A customer looking to floor his Iowa cabin chose Hickory from Carlisle specifically for its knots and character. He sent us this note when the floor arrived at his home for installation.

“I unloaded the semi last night and the flooring looks amazing! Thank you and your staff for including so many long and wider boards for the run. I am just thrilled with the way the boards turned out and the ‘rustic look’ that they have. The hard part now will be idenifying which boards will go were for the install to highlight the rustic areas,” wrote customer Robert Goldman.

The order was for 1,000 square feet of 4- to 8-inch random face width long run Hickory.

Posted on August 29, 2009 at 11:31 AM in Customer Stories • (0) Comments
One happy Carlisle customer helps out another

Posted by Christine Halvorson

Our customers sometimes rely on each other for advice on their flooring, as evidenced by an exchange among two Texans and personnel here at Carlisle. We love it when customers agree to be “references” for us. It’s sort of like we’re applying for a job—which we are, kind of!

So, Rodney Stephenson of Hempstead was thinking about a rustic wide plank floor that would have to be glued directly to a concrete slab. He also had questions about the softness of the pine.

With the help of Carlisle, he got advice from customer Jonnie Steffek in Richmond, who had installed her floor not that long ago. She told Rodney about an installation of Eastern White Pine.

Said Jonnie: “I went with the unfinished wood rather than pre-finished. My reason for that is, I like floors to show wear/pathways/knot holes.”

Carlisle supplied information to the client about gluing to the slab and the softness issue.

Jonnie wrote: “As far as being ‘soft’, that may be; however, in my book, ‘dings’ add character. I had a friend long ago, that would buy an antique, then refinish it to the point that it looked like it came direct from a furniture store…We have a few antiques scattered throughout the house, but they are old, and they look old.”

Jonnie invited Rodney over to her neck of the woods to see her floors for himself. We are indebted!

Posted on August 27, 2009 at 08:23 PM in Customer Stories • Hardwood Flooring • (0) Comments
Hit or Miss Eastern White Pine with Bradford Umber

Posted by Chad Cassin

We get compliments all the time about the floor. People love it and can’t get over the fact that I did it myself. It’s funny, some people just go on and on about it. We’re very pleased.”
—Jim Dotson

Posted on July 21, 2009 at 08:56 AM in Customer Stories • (1) Comments
Brown Maple holds up to wheelchair pressure in this home renovation

Posted by Christine Halvorson

Some times you need a really hard floor--like when wheelchairs are involved. For this home in Cumberland, Rhode Island, the design firm Inclusion by Design, used Carlisle's 8-inch Brown Maple boards, which were finished at the home site with a Gingerbread stain and tung oil. Inclusion by Design, based in Providence, Rhode Island, specializes in making homes and businesses accessible to people with disabilities and they take on some projects where renovations need to be made because of new, limited mobility. The Carlisle Mill in Swanzey, New Hampshire handled making this floor with the design work of Crystal Knowles in our Stoddard, New Hampshire offices. The Brown Maple is a great option for those who like the look of an older pine, but need to have a much harder floor.

Posted on June 15, 2009 at 02:09 PM in Customer Stories • (0) Comments